FarmBoxLA brings the farmer's market to your doorstep

It works like a CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture, Google it if you need to get up to speed), but rather than delivering goods from a single farm, FarmBoxLA provides its customers local produce from dozens of growers to create hyper-seasonal farmboxes, which vary from week to week depending on what’s freshest at the time.

“We team with about 40 different farmers, producers and artisans,” says co-founder Chako Fairbanks. After leaving a career in marketing, Fairbanks launched FarmBoxLA with her friend Reisha Fryzer.

“We created FarmBox to share our love of eating fresh, local produce straight from the farm,” their website states. “With hectic workdays, weekly appointments and family commitments, we realize that not everyone has the time to visit their weekly farmers market – no less a farm – to find the best fruits and veggies of the season.

“We have built strong relationships with our local L.A. farmers to ensure that your produce is picked when it’s ripe and bursting with flavor and is grown using sustainable, organic farming practices. FarmBox LA also features local artisan food makers through our online marketplace, whose products can be added to any delivery.”

FarmBoxLA offers a free weekly newsletter featuring recipes from local chefs, tips on how to best store produce and facts about uncommon items. A chef and nutritionist are on staff to answer questions every day of the week.

Local in-the-know site LAIST explains how it works: “Each Sunday morning at 6 a.m., FarmBox’s partner farmers from around Southern California drop off their produce, which was usually harvested on Saturday, at the FarmBoxLA warehouse space downtown (they share the area with Weiser Family Farms, our favorite purveyor of heirloom potatoes).

“The goods are then divvied up into their signature red baskets, and then delivered by noon to their 350-or-so customers throughout L.A. They plan on expanding the concept to San Francisco this summer.

Why you should try it:

“You don't have to be an amazing cook to make good food,” says Fairbanks. “If you have really awesome ingredients, the job is pretty easy.”

“When we first set out, we were worried that it'd just be this upper eschalon of wealthy people ordering our baskets,” Fairbanks told LAIST. “But we’re finding that it’s your average 25- to 35-year-olds who are curious about cooking, and who really care about where their food comes from.”

What to order:

The Complete FarmBox comes in three sizes: The Small runs $79; the Standard is $99; and the Deluxe goes for $129. Meanwhile, the Custom FarmBox allows customers to handpick items each week.

Specialty boxes include the Juicing FarmBox ($52 for the Small); the CrossFit Paleo Deluxe Box ($102); and the Beauty FarmBox ($60), which debuted this week, and includes foods known to promote healthy skin and hair.

Dey Dey's free-range organic ground beef; Rockenwagner pretzel rolls from Venice; bi-color corn from Underwood Family Farm in Moorpark; Spring Flame peaches from Ken’s Top Notch Produce in Dinuba; Brandywine heirloom tomatoes from Tutti Frutti in Lompoc; Hass Avocados from Rancho Santa Cecilia in Carpenteria; cilantro and lemon thyme from ABC Rhubarb in Fillmore; garlic and brown onions from Powell Family Farm in Redding; multi-color heirloom potatoes from Weiser Family Farms in Tehachapi; Lily’s free-range eggs from Fillmore; Maggie’s Italian greens from Agoura; Point Reyes Toma cheese from Point Reyes; and Homeboy tortilla chips from right here in L.A.

For drinkers:

Whatever you’ve got in the fridge, the bar or the cellar is what’s on tap alcohol-wise.

What people are saying:

In February of 2011, The Wall Street Journal reviewed FarmBoxLA and three similar services in three other cities. According to the paper, “FarmBox offered more bonuses than any of the other services: They will take any unused produce to a local food bank or farm to use as compost; or they'll jam or pickle it for you for $10 a jar.”

CBS has also taken an interest in the company. In April, the broadcaster posted this on their site: “What’s great about Farm Box LA in particular is their support of local farmers known to have some of the best produce around, such as Weiser Farms and Tutti Fruitti. You can be sure you’ll get ripe produce that is in season and therefore tastes as good as it gets.

The article goes on to say, “The thing that makes FarmBox LA even more special is their eco-sustainable business practices. Deliveries are packed in reusable produce bags and baskets to eliminate waste.”

What I think:

I enjoy my Sunday bike ride to the Brentwood farmers market, but I liked FarmBoxLA so much, I decided to sign up. Of course, I’ll still ride over to Gretna Green now and then, if for no other reason than to get a fresh crepe or (never prepared correctly) iced latte from the coffee cart.